Is Sarah Palin Joining Al Jazeera!?

Well... according to the Washington Post, she is

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I'm sure The Commentator will fall foul of what should from now on be called "Onion's Law" -- an event in which someone at a mainstream media outlet reads a spoof or satirical blog, and runs it as factual. Well... it happens to the best of them.

No better example came today when the Washington Post reported that Sarah Palin will be joining the Al Jazeera news network.

Palin, who has form appearing for Fox News, was the subject of a spoof blog on "The Daily Currant" which claimed that Palin told them, “As you all know, I’m not a big fan of newspapers, journalists, news anchors and the liberal media in general... But I met with the folks at Al-Jazeera and they told me they reach millions of devoutly religious people who don’t watch CBS or CNN. That tells me they don’t have a liberal bias.”

This would scream, "spoof!" at most of us, were it not for Palin's way with words.

But Suzi Parker at the Washington Post seems to have been so desperate for a 'Palin hit job' that she jumped all over The Daily Currant's reporting without sourcing the story elsewhere, or indeed contacting Palin's office for confirmation. She spitefully wrote today:

"It appears that Palin is still trying to find ways to stay relevant while her 15 minutes fades into the political history books."

and

"Fame, not legislating, is clearly what Palin still seeks."

Perhaps this will have taught dear Suzi a thing or two about the differences between journalism and churnalism. Having said that, in a media environment that moves so quickly, it seems to me that we may be able to forgive and forget. Because who knows who it could happen to next, eh? (Editor's Note: Way to place a curse on me).